A Tale of 'Pear'serverance

While many of us think of Autumn as the season to hunker in and slow down, for family-run Riverland Fruit growing out of Gisborne, this April marks a celebratory season of re-growth and new beginnings. 

Marcus Hamlin and his family have been sprouting apples, pears and kiwifruits out of Gisborne for over 50 years, but are new to our Wonky Box community, having just harvested some “peculiar" looking pears and “too small” kiwifruit they needed to find a home for this season. 

Read on for the journey of how these bits of Gisborne gold have made it into your Autumn Wonky Boxes.

_{"PECULIAR" PEARS}

Like many in the area, these Gizzy growers were devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle last year. This is just one of their many impacted paddocks - a pear orchard in Manutuke. On the night of the storm, a nearby river burst its banks sending a huge tidal wave through the block. The water rose as high as 3m, leaving around 300mm of silt across the orchard and debris strewn through the trees, rendering the entire crop worthless.

While that season’s fruit was lost, mother nature has been working her magic over the last 12 months, with the persevering pear trees you see here not only surviving, but going on to produce a thriving crop this year - which you now get to enjoy in your Wonky Boxes! The paddock may not yet be back to its former green glory, but these pears are as sweet and juicy as ever. The ones coming your wonky way may just have a few more markings, or be a bit misshapen.

To help your Wonky pears reach their full potential once they’ve landed in your kitchen, remember that these fruity beauties ripen from the inside out - so don’t let a firm exterior fool you! To tell when your pear is ready to perform (aka, be deliciously scoffed down!) give it a sniff. Ripe pears will smell sweet and aromatic. You can also try the “neck test” - the neck of the pear will soften as it ripens, and when it gives slightly to gentle pressure you know it’s ready to eat. 

_{"TOO SMALL" KIWIFRUIT}

Pears aren’t the only goodies we’re working with the Hamlin family to rescue this season. Let us present “too small” green kiwifruit. Once again, weather conditions have not been on our growers’ side, with heavy rainfall over the last 2 years causing many of the kiwifruit trees’ root systems to collapse, therefore producing what the industry deem “tiny” kiwifruit. 

Despite this small size making them great for snacking and lunchboxes, retail beauty standards have struck again, with major retailers unfortunately refusing this crop even though time and money were spent picking them and getting them ready to distribute to kiwi homes.

Marcus reached out to us for a helping hand, and of course we told him to send his kiwifruit our wonky way instead! We only release our Box contents a few days before delivery for this very reason, so that we can be responsive when growers find themselves in a bit of a bind. The result? 5,000 KILOGRAMS RESCUED! This means soon you’ll be enjoying these in your fruit bowls too!

Green kiwifruit are known for being on the tangier side, so if you’re more of a sweet tooth, this is your chance to turn to baking and try our Kiwifruit Loaf recipe that uses up the whole fruit, skin & all. Yummy for you, good for reducing food waste too! 

Stories like these are an important reminder of how much growers are at the mercy of uncontrollable weather conditions, and highlight the importance of not letting cosmetic imperfections stop fresh, fruity favourites from getting to our doors. By joining our Wonky Box community, you're helping ensure the too big, too small, or too wonky still end up on plates, instead of in waste - a big thank you from these prickly pears!